


where the lines overlap

by hollow_city



Series: constant game of falling short [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bruce Wayne is a Good Dad, Fake Character Death, Family Feels, Gen, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 12:57:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20447531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollow_city/pseuds/hollow_city
Summary: bruce wayne is the world's greatest detective, and the garrison are fools.or, bruce knows his son isn't dead.





	where the lines overlap

**Author's Note:**

> hey it's been a while hasn't it wow. gonna be completely honest, i briefly lost all inspiration for this au, and part of that was because of the fandom response to season 8 and that's all i'm gonna say on that. but i'm back and i can't say i'll have more after this in a reasonable amount of time but i finally had An Idea and i can't let it die again.

They hold a funeral. They have to. It's bleak and it rains the whole time and Bruce gives a speech that makes half of the attendees cry. 

It's a closed-casket funeral because there is no body. 

It's all over the tabloids and news stations in Gotham for all of two weeks before it becomes old news and no one remembers who Keith Kogane-Wayne is. 

No one dares bother the Waynes during this time, fearing the wrath of a grieving father. 

However, since the day of the phone call, Bruce Wayne has not been grieving.

He has been searching.

\- 

For the first twenty-four hours after the phone call, Bruce distantly believed that he would have to bury yet another son. He was surrendered to the idea that he would never see his son smile, laugh, frown, cry, scowl, _nothing_, ever again. Alfred could barely get him to eat. Jason refused to leave his side. 

And then Bruce received the details. 

Keith trespassed. Why? They don't know.

Keith's body was nowhere to be found. Why? They theorize it was vaporized. 

Lance McClain, Hunk Garrett, and Pidge Gunderson disappeared just the same. Why? Vaporized as well. 

The ship they were piloting though, was left with some bent mental and a broken nose end. 

Strange, Bruce mused, finally rising from the kitchen table. He has spent the last two hours sitting in silence, hardly moving, staring down at the table with his hands clasped in front of him. Alfred had tried multiple times to get him to speak to him, but after failed attempts, he had left Bruce alone. Eventually, Jason made off with the sandwich Alfred had made specifically for Bruce and went to the living room where the rest of his siblings were hanging around. 

No bodies, no definitive cause of death, details that don't match up. 

Bruce is heading for the clock and taking the steps down two at a time before he can even think about what he's doing. 

And it begins. 

-

On the first day, Bruce spends six hours reading the incident reports filed at the Garrison. He reads through each and every one multiple times, highlighting discrepancies, underlining mistakes, poking holes in their story.

One report claims the incident took place during a training simulation. Another reads that the incident took place during a maintenance flight. 

One report says the incident took place at one time, while another says something entirely different.

It's sloppy at best. But Bruce can understand. These files are supposed to be classified government property; they surely hadn't expected that anybody would gain access to them and scrutinize them. 

But that doesn't mean Bruce feels any sympathy for them. 

The press releases and conferences had made it seem like those in charge at the Garrison were genuinely saddened by what had occurred. The very thought of them being upset over the death of his son makes burning fury coil in his stomach. 

They've done something with his son, and he will find out what. 

-

On the second day, Damian starts to cry in the locker room and it takes twenty minutes for him to come out and let Bruce hug him. They don't patrol that night.

-

On the third day, Bruce reads the personnel files of nearly every single Garrison employee. He marks down the names of each person who was involved in the incident and saves them for last. 

Halfway through his search, Dick appears, leans against the back of Bruce's chair without a word, and stays there as Bruce reads through a recent police report. 

Eventually, Dick leans his head on top of Bruce's for a brief moment, before disappearing up the stairs. 

Once he's gone, Bruce pulls up the files of Takashi Shirogane and Adam West and continues reading. 

-

On the seventh day, Bruce shuts down the computer and rests his head in his hands, and doesn't move for thirty minutes. He doesn't leave the Cave until Cass comes back from patrol and pulls him out of the chair and to his bed. 

-

On the nineteenth day, Alfred catches him. He had been doing so well keeping his investigation away from the family because he didn't want to bring them in when he didn't have definitive proof.

But then Alfred walks in before he can minimize the window. 

"Master Bruce, you mustn't do this to yourself," Alfred says quietly, resting his hands on Bruce's shoulders. "I'm sorry, my boy." 

Bruce ends his work and skips patrol and ignores the look Alfred sends him as he heads for bed. 

-

On the twenty-first day, Dick and Tim come thundering down the stairs into the Cave and both immediately launch into long, rambling speeches. Bruce stares up at his sons from his spot at the computer and lets them go on for a good two minutes before raising a hand. They both stop speaking immediately and Dick has the grace to look vaguely embarrassed.

"One at a time, please," Bruce says dryly. 

"Keith isn't dead!" They blurt at the same time.

The words dig into Bruce's chest and freeze his heart. He must get a look on his face because Tim dissolves into panicked rambling that is probably supposed to be reassuring, but he's stumbling over his words and backtracking constantly. 

"Tim," Bruce sighs, his fists clenching tightly at his sides. 

Tim's mouth clicks shut and he and Dick exchange a glance.

"Bruce, I know-" Dick starts, his voice pitched like he's talking to a scared animal.

Bruce interrupts, "I know. I don't think he is, either."

Silence follows. Long, cold silence. 

"Seriously?" Tim finally pipes up. "I expected more resistance."

Bruce grunts. "The lies the Garrison decided to use were, quite frankly, insulting at best. Show me what you found."

-

Day twenty-four sees a family meeting that ends with Jason having an epic breakdown that leaves a good fraction of the Cave in shambles. 

\- 

Day thirty. 

The Galaxy Garrison, Phoenix, Arizona. 

The personal quarters of Commander M. Iverson. 

Iverson's throat beneath Batman's clenched fist. 

"I need some information. You have it. You _will _tell me what I need to know," Batman grits out, looming over the Commander.

"W-What-" Iverson stammers, gasping for air. Batman lets up enough to let him breathe properly, but stays close enough to ensure the threat is abundantly clear. 

"The incident that killed three pilots and one former student," Batman elaborates. "Everything you know about it. _Now."_

Iverson's eye widens. 

"Classified," he chokes out. 

Batman growls. "Not anymore."

Iverson still doesn't say anything, so Batman lets him go. Lets him drop back to his feet. Steps aside. Reveals the figure standing behind him. 

"He's all yours," Batman says, the corner of his lip pulling up. 

He sweeps from the room, intent on checking up with Red Robin, leaving a trembling Commander behind with the Red Hood, who starts laughing before Batman has even made it through the door.

"This is gonna be fun."

-

Day forty has Bruce contacting every Lantern he's ever met and asking for any and all information anybody has on the Galran empire. 

John pulls through and delivers a drive full of information. When Bruce awkwardly tells him he's in his debt, John raises a hand, shakes his head, and flies away. 

On the drive, there are folders regarding the containment of the Empire, major figures, and so much more.

There is also a folder on Voltron.

-

On day forty-three, Bruce holds another family meeting and presents all of the information he has on Keith's whereabouts. 

There are no specific coordinates, but there is a picture of the Red Paladin, and there is no doubt in Bruce's mind.

He knows his son.

And that is his son.

-

Day fifty is the day Damian decides waiting around is not the proper way to go. He cannot simply sit around while his big brother is off somewhere in space without him. 

And day fifty is the day Damian disappears from the Watchtower without a trace. 

**Author's Note:**

> :)))
> 
> 1) i know this is shit, i'm so sorry, please just take it, i'm suffering  
2) i had something else written out since like last july but it was so ridiculously shit that i scrapped the whole thing and hopefully this is better   
3) i literally cannot find information on where the garrison is located so it's in arizona and i'm gonna stick to that  
4) i found that this was the best way i could write this part (which is mostly just a transitional and necessary part for future developments) and it's kinda weird but i hope it's fine
> 
> oh well thanks for reading, hopefully i'll be back sooner than a year plus this time :')


End file.
